Seevinck, Michael Patrick (2004) Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Motivated by the question what it is that makes quantum mechanics a holistic theory (if so), I try to define for general physical theories what we mean by `holism'. For this purpose I propose an epistemological criterion to decide whether or not a physical theory is holistic, namely: a physical theory is holistic if and only if it is impossible in principle to infer the global properties, as assigned in the theory, by local resources available to an agent. I propose that these resources include at least all local operations and classical communication. This approach is contrasted with the well-known approaches to holism in terms of supervenience. The criterion for holism proposed here involves a shift in emphasis from ontology to epistemology. I apply this epistemological criterion to classical physics and Bohmian mechanics as represented on a phase and configuration space respectively, and for quantum mechanics (in the orthodox interpretation) using the formalism of general quantum operations as completely positive trace non-increasing maps. Furthermore, I provide an interesting example from which one can conclude that quantum mechanics is holistic in the above mentioned sense, although, perhaps surprisingly, no entanglement is needed.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Seevinck, Michael Patrick
Additional Information:	Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics vol. 35B, 693 (2004).
Keywords:	holism supervenience classical physics quantum mechanics entanglement
Subjects:	General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Depositing User:	Dr. Michael Patrick Seevinck
Date Deposited:	11 Feb 2005
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:13
Item ID:	2191
Subjects:	General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics
Date:	December 2004
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2191

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• Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics. (deposited 14 Jun 2005)
  • Holism, Physical Theories and Quantum Mechanics. (deposited 11 Feb 2005) [Currently Displayed]

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